General Election Interview: John Cummins, Fine Gael
John Cummins is the General Election candidate for Waterford and spoke about his work securing funding for the North Quays during his interview. Photo: Hugh Dooley
After four years in the Seanad, John Cummins is seeking to go one step further and get elected to the Dáil. The Fine Gael Senator ran unsuccessfully in 2020 but this year as the sole Fine Gael candidate, Cummins seems quietly confident about his hopes of electoral success.
The Senator objected to the notion that Waterford is being left behind, "I know that's a narrative that is out there. But I much prefer to talk up Waterford rather than talk it down. Look at the achievements that have been achieved over the last decade and more, and look to the future and what can be achieved over the next number of years," he urged voters.
"I was elected when I was 21 to the council, some 15 years ago. When I think back to where Waterford was 15 years ago and look at where it is now, it's hugely different. Back at that time, our local and our national economies were broken. We had unemployment reaching 20%, we now have full employment in Waterford. There's been 6,000 additional state-supported jobs added in Waterford in that time."
"When I think back to the Viking Triangle, it was a derelict area of our city - it is now one of the best areas, with one of the best museums probably in the country."
"Think back to times when our city's quays, just outside here, were flooding and are now being protected by state-of-the-art flood protection. Look at health and the huge investment in our primary and secondary schools in education as well."
Cummins believes that the current Fine Gael - Fianna Fáil government has delivered change for Waterford during its term and helped to accelerate the development of the South East region leading to "huge strides being made in Waterford over the last number of years."
"So I choose to be optimistic about our city and county and everything that it has to offer," he said, "I love our county and its people. I really think that we need to talk up our county because if we don't do it, nobody else is going to do it for us."
"I'm not saying for one second that we have enough investment," he said, "I will always fight for more investment for Waterford, because our people deserve it."
Challenged on Fine Gael's track record on the issue of 24/7 cardiac care at UHW, Senator Cummins said, "I don't need to give the people of Waterford a history lesson in cardiac care, but at the same time, we have to acknowledge what [Taoiseach] Simon Harris did. Simon Harris approved the second cath lab for Waterford when he was Minister for Health. That second cath lab is now operating. It means that our [waiting] lists in Waterford have gone hugely down and 19 and a half full-time equivalents were approved in April of this year and the staff recruitment is underway in order to try and get the service to 8-to-8 on a seven-day per-week basis."
Asked if his achievements as a Senator have been limited to small-scale achievements, Cummins pointed to the North Quays development project as an example of his ability to deliver tangible results.
"I have driven that project forward at every opportunity, working with the developers at various different times, with Michael Walsh, with the council, with the departments."
"At every point along the way," Cummins says he faced doubters about the project.
"I was told we wouldn't knock the grain silos; they were knocked. I was told we wouldn't be able to CPO [compulsory purchase order] the lands; they were purchased. I was told we wouldn't be able to get planning permission; we got planning permission. I was told we wouldn't get the developer on board to develop it; we have Harcourt Developments, and I was told [the] Government wouldn't invest the money required to unlock the site; €170 million in government funding is being delivered to the North Quays outside of this window.
"So that's probably the biggest project in Waterford and I've been involved in it from the start. I would like to think that that's one thing that people can take back over the last number of years and think of all the times that I spoke about that project, and think about all of the involvement that I've had in it. I would point to that as something that I've been centrally involved in."
Senator Cummins said that projects such as the North Quays "don't just happen" because Waterford deserves the investment, "It happens through hard work. It happens through being in the right place to be able to influence things. It happens by getting the support of your party and government to be able to deliver on those items and that's what I've been involved in."
"You put it to me at the very start that I was a grafter, but I've only been involved in small ticket things. I'm pointing to the biggest ticket thing being delivered in Waterford at this moment in time, and saying that I've been centrally involved in it."
Asked how he would grade his performance during his term as a senator, Cummins laughed, "Well, I was a teacher, so you always try and mark down a student so that there is room for improvement - but I'll avoid the grading part!
"What I would say is, I think I've been a very effective member of the Senate. I've operated as a kind of de facto Fine Gael TD because we didn't return a TD at the last election. I've been a member of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage, I've worked with all parties and none, on that committee to bring forward innovative solutions, in terms of housing."
Cummins added, "I think I've done a huge amount of work, but obviously I want to do more and I feel I can achieve more as a TD for Waterford."
